Look into My Eyes
by CaeruleaFairyDust
Summary: When Harry defeated the Basilisk in the Chamber, something happened to change his life forever- for the better or for the worse, depending on who you ask. No pairings until part 2. On Hiatus
1. In the Chamber

**The Disclaimer: **I am not J.K. Rowling. Thus, this is not her work, nor is her work mine. As it is, I am not gaining anything but pride for the publishing of this fan fiction on this site.

"_Parseltongue"_

"_**Harry talking in the native tongue of another magical creature"**_

**Look into My Eyes**

**Part One: Harry Potter and the New Face**

**Chapter One: In the Chamber**

'Fawkes was soaring around its head, and the basilisk was snapping furiously at him with fangs long as sabers-

Fawkes dived. His long golden beak sank out of sight and a sudden shower of dark blood spattered'(1) all over Harry. Blood ran into his mouth, stuck to his hair and soaked his shirt He bent over gagging, inadvertently swallowing a lot of the liquid. Harry heard a thump and watched, horrified, as Fawkes landed on the floor, the basilisk having successfully crushed him into the wall . He could hear Riddle laughing behind him.

_"KILL THE BOY!"_ Riddle shouted suddenly, _"YOU CAN EAT THE BIRD LATER! JUST KILL HIM!!"_

Harry looked back to the serpent. Acid green scales on a undulating body curled around him before he could run. The basilisk, blood dripping from its eye sockets, opened its mouth to swallow him whole.

_"NO! Stop!" _Harry yelled, parseltongue came out unintentionally. The great serpent jerked, accidentally burying one long, thin fang into Harry's forearm, before tearing away. There was a snapping sound as the fang hit bone and broke.

The slightly confused snake released Harry who scrambled away weakly pulling the broken tooth out of his arm. He could already feel the poison spreading through his veins...

He glanced at Riddle- Voldemort. He was frowning at Harry, a curious expression on his face.

"You are dead, regardless, Harry Potter." He murmured softly.

Harry's eyes flicked to the diary. It was too far away for him to reach it, and Voldemort would stop him if he tried.

So he did the only thing he could.

He gathered up his magic, summoning it with his hatred, his desperation, his fear, and pushed it all at the diary.

The results were unexpected.

Voldemort shrieked. A funnel formed near his body connected to the diary and he was dragged into it. As the memory disappeared into his diary, the color returned to Ginny's cheeks and she began to breathe more deeply.

Harry didn't see this though, because the moment he released his power he felt as if the poison in his bloodstream suddenly filled him completely. It was as if jagged bits of ice were trying to push their was through his bloodstream while fire raced arcoss his skin. His head pressurized. He was going to die. The headache, the fire, the ice were finally to much for him, he opened his mouth to scream when, with a sudden flood of knowledge, the pain disappeared.

Harry's body collapsed, twitching. He opened his eyes, noticing immediately that he wasn't feeling drained at all, in fact, he felt better than he ever had with his magic simply _zinging_ through him. He glanced around, eyes landing on Ginny's crumpled form.

Getting up quickly, he ran over to her. Pausing, he noticed the diary. He smiled slightly, picked it up, and pocketed it. Then he woke up Ginny.

She started to babble, but he quieted her with a look and sent her off to pacify Ron. He had to test something.

Ginny ran out. Harry walked over to where Fawkes was laying and looked at a pile of ashes on the ground. In the center of the ashes was a baby Fawkes who peeped when Harry picked him up.

Harry looked at him carefully and said, _**"Fawkes? Can you hear me? Understand me, I mean?"**_

_**"Yes." **_Was the quiet answer.

_**"Its true then. This isn't some joke. I'm going to..."**_

_**"To what?" **_Fawkes, Harry thought, sounded way too chipper.

_**"Never mind. You can talk to Dumbledore telepathically right? Well... never mind. Maybe we'll talk later?"**_

_**"Harry, where did your sudden ability for fire-speech come from?"**_

_**"Ummm... Could you not mention it for now if I promise to tell you later? It has something to do with what happened when you were busy rebirthing yourself"**_

__Fawkes' trilling laughed filled the chamber, **_"Of course."_**

_**"Good."**_

_**"Now, promise!"**_

_**"Rot. You caught me."**_

_**"I've spent too much time around Slytherins for that to work, snakeling."**_

_**"Oh. All right, Fawkes, I promise I'll tell you when the time is right. Okay?"**_

_**"Thank you, Harry, I suppose that will do."**_

__Harry smiled faintly and looked around for the basilisk, if was still alive, after all, it could cause trouble. He spotted the snake in a shadowed area the torches lining the walls couldn't reach.

It was dead. Harry had expected that, with what had happened to him. He closed his eyes and could feel the basilisk's magical core, now his, pulsing within him. Yes, it was dead.

Harry, with Fawkes nestled comfortably in his hair, picked up Ron, Ginny and Lockhart on their way out and were following the tunnel, talking softly, when Ron seemed to remember something.

"Er... Harry."

"Whats that, Ron?"

"How are we supposed to get out of here? Not that I don't like snakes, slime, and general creepiness, but Mum'll be worried."

Harry grinned. "I think I know a way..."

They arrived at the pipe that led to the Chamber.

_"Stairs."_ Harry hissed. The pipe transformed into a forbidding-looking stair-way. Ron looked impressed. Harry led the way.

End Chapter One

_**TBC...**_

excerpt from Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets pages 318-319

AN:

This was an interesting idea that has been plaguing me for weeks, so I decided to write it. It starts getting good in chap. 2, so stick around for that. I should have it up by next week.

By the way, there are a few issues that I need cleared up. Has to do with where the story is headed. Check my profile for a poll that should be up in a few. Tata!

AN 2:

I edited this a bit. The writing feels rather juvenile, but I'm lazy and don't want to rewrite the whole thing. Maybe I will when the thing's all finished.

~Caerea


	2. The Aftermath

**Disclaimer: **

T'would be so divine,

If Harry were mine,

But that's not to be.

Alas! Woe is me.

**Look into My Eyes**

**Part One: Harry Potter and the New Face**

**Chapter Two: The Aftermath**

Just before Harry, Ginny, Ron, Lockhart, and baby Fawkes entered the Headmaster's office, Harry was struck with a sudden thought. He stopped in front of the statue and turned around, an unreadable look in his eyes.

"Harry, what..." Ron started to say. He didn't finish though because that was when Harry struck. He gathered his magic, utilizing the parselmagic he had learned in the Chamber, and focused on the other three. He hissed softly and they glowed green, a dazed expression appeared on their faces. He released the magic and was pecked on the head.

_**"What was that for, Fawkes?!?"**_

_**"What did you do to them? How did you do it?"**_

_**"I erased their knowledge of the entrance to the Chamber of Secrets, that doesn't need to be widely known." **_He ignored the other question as the green light was fading from the others. They blinked and Ginny whispered,

"I'm going to be expelled, aren't I."

"Of course not!" Ron exclaimed, "It wasn't you, it was that rotten diary!"

Harry ignored them as Ron started to reassure his sister and Lockhart began humming something that sounded suspiciously like 'Mary had a Little Lamb', and said the pass word to the headmaster's office.

"Ice mice."

Lockhart didn't follow them, instead he wandered off in the opposite direction, still absently humming.

They were soon seated being fawned over by the Weasley's and smiled at by Professors McGonagal and Dumbledore. Soon, Harry began his tale.

He told the truth of what had happened, how he was hearing voices, about the spiders, and such, but left out Myrtle, just said that he had found the Chamber. He also recounted most of what happened inside the Chamber, up until he was bitten. He just said that the Basilisk, once it heard him using parseltongue, had refused to kill him, so Riddle had killed it. He then said that Riddle was about to kill him- he made it sound like he didn't know Riddle was Voldemort that was something else he'd left out, though he was certain Dumbledore knew- and he'd managed to somehow summon the diary in front of him before the green light hit him.

Silence in the room. Dumbledore peered at Harry from under his half-moon spectacles.

"Oh," Harry murmured, "I nearly forgot." He reached up and carefully handed Fawkes to the Headmaster who took the phoenix and cradled him against his chest.

"Thank you, dear boy," Dumbledore said with a soft smile.

There was a small pause before Mr. Weasley began berating Ginny for trusting a magical book with out checking it first. Harry tuned them out and closed his eyes. The adrenaline from the Chamber was wearing off and his magic had settled (thankfully, or Dumbledore would definitely have sensed it) leaving him drained.

"Professor," Harry said, cutting off Mr. Weasley, "I'm tired and bloody and I'd like to go back to the common room, please?"

"Of course, Harry. But first, I think that you and young Mr. Weasley will both receive one hundred points to Griffindor for saving the life of a student and a Special Awards to the School." Harry didn't know whether to laugh or throw up, he was rewarding them for breaking the rules! If Harry didn't know better he'd say Dumbledore was encouraging Harry to be reckless.

Dumbledore continued, "Now, if Mr. and Ms. Weasley will kindly step outside, I'd like to have a word with you before you go."

Ron nodded and started to get up, but Mrs. Weasley said anxiously, "Headmaster, Ginny won't be expelled will she?"

Dumbledore's eyes twinkled kindly, "Of course not, Molly, for even the wisest of us can be befuddled by the wiles of Dark magic."

The Weasleys exited the room then, leaving Harry with the Headmaster.

Harry fidgeted as Dumbledore stared at him, neither one of them speaking.

"Harry, is there anything you wish to tell me?"

Harry looked up and met the Headmaster's eyes, "No, sir," he lied. A flash of annoyance crossed Dumbledore's face before it was quickly covered. If Harry's eyes had not become better from his Change, he would not have seen it.

As it was, he made no notice outward of the Headmaster's ire, and simply said, "May I go now, Professor?"

The twinkly eyes were back, "You may." And he left.

Harry walked tiredly towards the Griffindor Common room when he heard a familiar squeak. _Dobby?_ He thought, rounding the corner.

There, striding along the corridor, with a sneer firmly planted on his face was Lucius Malfoy. Beside him, with a dirty rag in his hand was Dobby the House-elf.

He had obviously been cleaning his master's shoes when Lucius left and was now trying to finish the job.

"Get off me you worthless creature!" Lucius yelled kicking at Dobby. Harry's eyes glowed in rage as he witnessed his 'protector' being beaten. Then he smirked, he knew how to deal with this.

"House-elf troubles, Mr. Malfoy?" Harry asked casually, leaning up against the wall.

Lucius's eyes narrowed on the smirking Boy-Who-Lived. "None of your business, Potter, now why don't you run along and play with your mudblood friends?"

"I would," Harry said, inspecting his blood-encrusted fingernails and ignoring the slur on Hermione, "but I have a problem, one that you are going to fix for me."

Lucius frowned, "What do you want, Potter?" he sneered.

"I need a House-elf."

What ever Lucius had been expecting, it was not that.

Before he could respond, Harry continued, "In return for me never mentioning seeing you slip a small, black book into Ginny Weasley's cauldron that day in Flurish and Blotts, a book that was the one time diary of Tom Marvolo Riddle and is also a Dark object, you will release all bonds and ties to one Dobby the House-elf."

Both Dobby and Lucius were staring at him now,Dobby with hope and Lucius fury.

"And what, Mr. Potter, makes you think anyone will listen to your pitiful accusations, unfounded as they may be?"

"Anyone will listen to the defeater of a Dark Lord."

A few moments later, Lucius stormed up to the Headmaster's office, one House-elf short.

"How can Dobby ever thank Master Harry Potter! He is so good and kind and wise and..."

"Enough, Dobby. Hey, since you're free, how would you feel about working for me? I can pay you if you want it and you can wear clothes and everything..."

Dobby was speechless with joy. The two soon settled on a price, two sickles per week with three days off every month and sick leave. Harry sent Dobby to go buy himself some clothing with a few galleons from his trunk and headed for the showers. This talk of money though, lead Harry to a particularly humbling thought.

_I don't even know how much money I have!_

Resolving to send a letter to Gringotts in the morning, Harry took his shower and went to bed.

TBC

An:

And so ends another exciting chapter of: Look into My Eyes

Right, so Review! I'd love to hear from you!

Next up: Harry hears interesting news from the Goblins, experiences some changes in anatomy, and realizes the joys of freedom.

AN 2:

Again, edited. Probably not the best, but there you go!

~Caerea


	3. Tiny, Green Scales

**The Disclaimer: I am in no way British. There for I cannot run for the office of J.K. Rowling. Oh, wait. Is that even an elective office? Apparently, not or I'd have moved to Scotland. **

**That made no sense. Let's try again. I make no money for the publishing of this work of fiction. Nor am I the illustrious author of the original work which I have managed to mangle beyond repair. **

"**Harry speaking in another magical creature's native tongue"**

"_Parseltongue"_

_Thoughts_

_'Letters'_

**Look into My Eyes**

**Part one: Harry Potter and the New Face**

**Chapter Three: Tiny, Green Scales**

It was Ron's snoring that woke Harry up around midnight. His skin was practically _vibrating_ with the shock waves coming from his best friend's mouth. Harry moaned and rolled over, stumbling to the bathroom.

He rubbed the sleep from his eyes and stared at himself in the mirror. So, his skin was already becoming more sensitive. Harry knew that snakes relied on the vibrations from the ground and the air in place of their bad eyesight, and it seemed that his skin was already taking on that characteristic.

Harry glanced at his watch, now that he was awake, he found that he wasn't all that sleepy- even if he had only gotten five hours of sleep he felt as through he'd gotten twelve. A side effect perhaps?

With a sigh, he glanced at the mirror again and slipped out of the bathroom to sit on his bed. _May as well write that letter now..._

_'To whom it may concern:_

_I have recently become aware of the fact that I do not know anything about the Potter legacy nor have I been informed of any other inheritances that I have access to._

_I also have never received a bank statement of any kind, as is standard in the muggle world and, I assume- perhaps wrongly- the wizarding world as well. _

_I will be visiting your establishment a few days after the end of Hogwart's last term. I expect a full portfolio of all of my assets to be ready for my examination upon my arrive, along with an inheritance test._

_I expect full confidential rights as a customer to be acted upon, as it would not do for my business to be known._

_Cordially,_

_Harry James Potter'_

It took many sheets of parchment, a trip to the library under his invisibility cloak for several books of wizarding laws and Gringott's banking system, and a dictionary, but Harry finally got the letter written to his satisfaction.

The sun was just beginning to rise outside, when Harry (now slightly better acquainted with wizard politics thanks to the law books) carefully cleaned his bed of all the crumpled up papers. He then slipped on his cloak and left for the owlery.

He took his time, feeling wonderfully refreshed walking in the cool stone halls, until he reached the owlery. Birds rustled in the dark tower as Harry softly called down Hedwig.

The snowy owl landed on his shoulder and nipped his fingers lovingly. He pet her for a while before tying on the letter.

"I hope you're up for a trip to Gringotts, Hedwig. Don't let the goblins bother you," he murmured. She hooted and spread her wings, flying off towards London.

Harry watched her sail away, noting the beautiful sunrise as well. He stayed up there for a while, before his stomach reminded him that it was time for breakfast.

HPHPHPHPHPHHP

Harry watched the trees whiz past the window outside the train and sighed. In the week after he left the chamber, Hermione had smothered him and Ron with hugs while shrieking, "You solved it! You solved it!" loudly in their ears; various members of Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Gryffindor had come up to him with apologies for their tormenting him (and wanting to hear about the Chamber, which Harry refused); Gryffindor had won the House Cup; and tiny green scales had started growing out of Harry's skin forcing him to use illusion spells- similar to glamors- to keep anyone from noticing.

Harry turned away from the window and glanced at his two friends. Ever since the Chamber, Harry had felt as if he were floating on a cloud of vague disbelief. He was almost positive he knew what had happened to him, but it hadn't _really_ sunk in yet. And his friends had noticed his detachment. Hermione had tried to get him to talk about the Chamber ever since she woke up (What did it look like? Where is it? What happened, exactly?) - and Ron wanted to know too (What did that bastard do to Ginny, Harry? What ever did happen to that diary thing?).

Harry wasn't sure how to take their questions. On the one hand, he was used to sharing just about everything with his friends, but on the other, his still-developing senses had noticed something decidedly _off_ about them. Something almost deceitful.

That smell also hung in large quantities around Scabbers, Ron's rat, which Harry found even odder.

"Something wrong, Harry?" Hermione asked, noticing him staring at the rat.

Ron looked up as well and frowned at his friend. "Harry?"

Harry shook himself and focused on Ron, "Hey, how long did you say you've had Scabbers?"

"'bout twelve years, actually, he was Percy's rat first, ya know. Why?"

"Well," Harry said slowly, "you know how my relatives don't like me much, right?" They nodded to the understatement of the century. "My cousin, Dudley, has always wanted a pet, and I was thinking, you complain about Scabbers so much... Ron, would you let me buy Scabbers for, I dunno, ten galleons?"

Ron whistled, "Harry, you sure? That's a bit much."

"Yeah, but I think it would really help mend the bridges between me and my family." It almost hurt to say this and see them buying it, but he really wanted to know what was up with the rat. He'd worry about his friends deceit only after he'd done a little digging later.

"I think that's a really good idea, Harry," Hermione said kindly, "but why don't you buy a pet for him at a pet store? Scabbers is kind of, no offense Ron, _old_."

"I know, Hermione, but he's tame. And when am I going to be able to get to a pet shop?" He crossed his arms and raised an eyebrow at her and she grinned.

"Point taken."

Ron nodded suddenly and scooped up his slumbering rat, "Alright, Harry, if you're sure." He put Scabbers in his cage while Harry dug his money bag out of his pocket and they traded, gold for rat.

"I guess I can get an owl, now," Ron said cheerfully. Harry just smiled.

They played Exploding Snap, several games of chess (in which Harry lost spectacularly) and talked about their summer plans (except Harry who didn't say much) and so the train ride passed swiftly. They were soon at the crowded station.

Harry made his way to his trunk through the press of people. He saw the twins coming out of a compartment and waved to them, grinning when they waved back. When he got to his trunk, he set it carefully on a trolley, along with Hedwig and the rat that he had no intention of giving to Dudley, and wheeled it into a shadowy corner.

Harry unlocked Hedwig's cage and whispered, "I'm not going to the Dursley's yet, Hedwig, meet me in the Leaky Cauldron, okay?"

Hedwig hooted an affirmative, nipped his fingers in good-bye and took off. With a nod, Harry drew his wand and muttered a shrinking charm at his possessions, except Scabbers. His trunk and his owl's cage shrank to pocket size and Harry scooped them up. He unslung a backpack of things he hadn't wanted in his trunk off his back and pulled out his invisibility cloak.

Draping it around himself, he dropped his stuff into the backpack, thanking the powers that be that Scabbers' cage was small enough to fit. He side-stepped, tip-toed, sashayed, and danced to avoid stepping on unsuspecting wizards, but eventually, he was in the muggle world.

With a snigger, he passed his Uncle Vernon who was looking decidedly red faced and walked swiftly towards the bathroom. Inside, he stripped himself of the illusions and took a good look at his skin.

Tiny, green, and impossibly hard scales were sprouting from every inch of his skin from head to toe. He thought that they had grown since this morning and knew that he'd been covered in scales by the start of the next school year, but he'd worry about that later.

Harry itched his arm idly, blanched, and held up his hand. He was certain that his nails had not been black this morning. Nor had they been so hard. Harry sighed and reapplied the illusions to his body to hide the changes.

He left the bathroom, looking like a sandy haired, brown eyed, tanned kid with an easy smile, and headed outside. Once there, he sat on an unoccupied bench and waited to see if he would get a Ministry owl for the shrinking and illusion spells.

He sat there until he saw Uncle Vernon leaving in a huff and muttering to himself, then stood. No owls had come, which made him think that his stealing the basilisk's magical core had destroyed whatever magic tracking device the Ministry of Magic placed on young witches and wizards. It was the only plausible explanation, and made things a whole lot easier.

Harry walked swiftly down the street until he came to an empty lane. Hoping this would work just like he'd read, he stuck his wand out and waited... BANG!

A double-decker, bright purple, impossibly thin bus, with gold letter that stated: 'THE KNIGHT BUS' on its side, appeared out of thin air. The door opened and a man with pock-marks covering his face stepped out and said,

"Welcome to the Knight Bus, standard transportation for a stranded witch or wizard. My names Stan Shunpike and I will be your conductor for this afternoon." He said all this in a heavy accent that was difficult to understand, but Harry managed.

He stepped on board and paid for the ride, but declined the offered refreshments.

They were off with another BANG!

Harry decided that he would never willing ride the Knight Bus again.

_**TBC...**_

AN:

I know I promised goblins and such, but that will end up being next chapter.

Oh, and all the details of Harry's 'change' will be throughly explained in the coming chapters, likely all at once. I hate being left in the dark, personally, so I won't do that to you.

Review, please, it helps my self-esteem if I get a good, well thought critique. Don't hesitate to point out mistakes! It will only help me write better.

The poll I had up is now closed. I published the results on my profile, so look there.

I have a new poll up for an issue on pairings, so vote! (Even though it won't likely come up for a while- Harry is only twelve.)

AN 2:

I thought I ought to mention- so far, this is all Harry's POV. Some of the conclusions he comes to are not right. Some of them are. For example, he did not 'steal' the basilisk's magical core. Something else happened there. And about his friends... well, we'll see won't we?

~Caerea


	4. Purple Skin and Goblins

**The Almighty Disclaimer**: I am but a lowly fan-fiction writer. Not a famous author. Thus, Harry is not technically mine. The plot is though, I can claim that much.

**Look into My Eyes**

**Part One: Harry Potter and the New Face**

**Chapter Four: Purple Skin and Goblins**

"'Ere we are!" Stan called as the bus jerked to a stop. Harry stumbled gratefully out onto the pavement, white as a sheet. He waved a weak good-by and the Knight Bus BANG-ed away.

"Never," he mumbled walking towards the pub, "Never again..."

Harry recovered his sense of balance and strode into the Leaky Cauldron, manipulating his illusion as he did.

He looked Darker now. Inky black hair, pale skin, sharp blue eyes, and an angular face. He also made himself look taller, though that was a much more difficult illusion to maintain, certainly very draining magically.

The Leaky Cauldron was, thankfully, nearly empty, so he had no problems garnering the bartender's attention. Tom seemed suspicious of him, but he soon found himself in a room with the promise of breakfast in the morning.

With a sigh, Harry dropped all his illusions. He walked to the center of the room than began hissing in parseltongue, waving his hands in complicated gestures that vaguely resembled a snake's movements. Green fire sprung up on the ground under his feet and spread in a circle along the floor. The fire hit the walls and dissipated with a flash. Harry stopped hissing and observed his handy-work. He was tired, the wards would never be able to stand up to a professional ward-breaker, but it would keep nosy busybodies from noticing anything happening in the room.

Warding done, Harry started to unpack. He unslung his backpack from his shoulder, and set it on the bed. First, he unpacked his essentials and then set his new rat on top of the dresser. He added an unbreakable charm to the cage, just in case. When he finished, Harry pulled the letter he'd received two days ago from Gringotts and read it again.

_Dear Mr. Potter,_

_We at Gringotts are always willing to cater to the needs of our patrons. An inheritance test will be ready for your use upon your arrival to our humble establishment. _

_In regards to your bank statements, it is the duty of your magical guardian to handle your financial state until your majority or emancipation, which ever comes first. Your current magical guardian, one Albus Dumbledore, should have alerted you to this fact upon your re-entry to the Wizarding World on your eleventh birthday._

_Should you wish to visit your family vaults, you must first take an inheritance test to determine your status (one of which is ready for you as stated above). Our Inheritance Office is open from nine to eight every day and there is always a goblin free. Merely show this letter to one of our tellers and they will take you there._

_Thank you for banking at Gringotts,_

_Glangloc_

_Gringotts Mailing Service_

The letter confused him. He had done a bit of research (Hermione wasn't the only one who knew how to open a book) and found that Professor Dumbledore, as his magical guardian- which Harry thought definitely odd- should have informed him of a lot of things. Most importantly, his status as Heir to the Most Ancient and Noble House of Potter (if, indeed, that was the case- the inheritance test would have to be done soon) and the various duties he was supposed to preform upon his emancipation.

But he hadn't. _Why ever not? _Harry wondered. _Its not like he's using the money. He can't, except my trust fund..._ Harry briefly thought of Professor Dumbledore cackling madly as he threw fistfuls of gold into a large sack from his trust vault, but dismissed the notion. _What good does it do to keep me ignorant of my... mmm, to better control me? _The good, light, Gryffindorish side of Harry rejected that outright, but his newly awakened Slytherin side continued with: _He's been using you since the day he put you with the Dursleys. After all, he was your savior, was he not? Taking you away from those _people_. And who was the first person you met? Hagrid. The Dumbledore-loving oaf who spouts __the goodness of Gryffindor and the all-around nasty-ness of Slytherins. Need I __say more?_

Harry realized with a start that he had been staring into space for quite some time. With a growl of frustration, Harry spun away from the grimy window and strode into the bathroom.

Twenty minutes later a clean Harry Potter lay on his bed, fast asleep.

HPHPHPHPHPHP

The sun dawned bright and early the next morning. Harry woke up and stumbled blearily into the bathroom. He dressed into some of Dudley's cast-off and brushed his teeth. He spat in the sink then looked up.

"Merlin and Morgana!" Harry yelped. The green scales covering his body had grown larger in the night. His skin was changing as well, becoming rougher and thicker. And purple.

Harry stuck out his tongue. Was it his imagination or were his teeth sharper than before? His tongue was definitely more flat-looking and starting to fork as well. Harry looked at his profile. His nose shrinking too, growing closer to his face.

Harry frowned. At this rate, he'd be fully changed in about two months- right before school started up again. He closed his eyes, took a deep breath and decided to worry about that later. He had breakfast to eat and goblins to see.

Harry reset the illusions so he appeared as the pale, blue-eyed teen he'd been yesterday and swore at the huge loss of power. His skin was apparently becoming spell resistant. _Look on the bright side. I'll probably never have to worry about low-level spells again._

Harry ate breakfast (sausage, bacon and eggs- meat seemed more appealing lately) and left the Leaky Cauldron for Diagon alley. A smile crossed his face, it was just as he remembered.

People rushed here and there, arguing over the price of horned slugs, staring into the window of Quality Quiddich Supplies, and eating sundaes in front of Florean Flortescue's Ice Cream Parlor. Harry entered the mill of brightly colored robed figures and headed for Gringotts.

No one paid attention to the dark-clad youth and he soon found himself in front of the bank. Harry walked up the marble steps and read the inscription over the door as he went in.

The arches of marble and dark wood gave a solemn atmosphere to the bank, not to mention the fierce, stony-faced goblins lining the walls. Harry pulled his cloak tighter around his body, checked his illusions once more and made his way to the nearest teller.

Suddenly nervous, Harry stood in the short line. Gringotts was busy today.

The cry of "Next!" got the line moving until Harry stood uncertainly under the podium. The goblin leaned down with a leer and said,

"State your business." Harry silently handed the letter to the goblin and waited.

"Yes. That seems to be in order. Griphook!" The goblin who had taken him to his trust vault the first time appeared. "Take this human to the Inheritance Office, Room 14."

Griphook nodded. Harry stuffed his letter into a pocket and followed him to the Inheritance Office. Neither spoke.

They went through a small door in the side of the building. It had strange runes covering the outside of it and when Harry went through, he felt the illusions trying to tug off. He held on to them furiously.

The illusions were still trying to slip off so he didn't pay attention to where they were going, only that when the wards finally revealed him, he was sitting in a private office with a single ancient goblin looking at him.

Harry slumped against seat, exhausted, and met the goblin's eyes. They eyed each other for a moment before the goblin said slowly,

"My name is Fardrogc. Who are you?"

"Harry Potter." He answered immediately.

"Your magical signature says otherwise... as does your genetic make up."

"Oh."

"It makes little difference. If you are indeed Harry Potter, the test will tell us." Fardrogc pushed the stone bowl sitting on his desk between them. He handed Harry a dagger. "Prick your finger and let a drop of blood fall into the bowl," he said.

The bowl was filled with a white liquid that was spinning slowly clockwise . Harry jabbed his finger with the knife. It refused to break his skin. He glanced at the goblin who raised one eyebrow. Harry sighed and tried again, pressing harder. The knife split his skin and dark blood seeped out. He paused before he let the blood drip into the bowl.

"This works for non-humans, right?"

"Of course."

A spattering of blood fell into the bowl, the red mixed with white, swirling and frothing for a moment, before going still.

Fardrogc dropped what looked like an inkwell into the liquid and took out a shinny black quill. He stood it up on a piece of parchment. It quivered for a moment then started writing quickly.

When it was done, the goblin picked up the paper and looked at it. Harry breathed in and _tasted _somehow that Fardrogc was startled, and a little bit afraid. Without a word, he hand the parchment to Harry.

It read:

_Harry James Potter:_

_Father- James Hadrian Potter_

_Mother- Silvera, familiar of Salazar Slytherin_

_Lord of the Most Ancient and Noble House of Potter by blood and will_

_Lord of the Most Ancient and Noble House of Slytherin by blood, rite, and will_

_Lord of the Most Ancient and Noble House of Peverell by blood, rite, and will_

_Heir of the Most Ancient and Noble House of Black by will_

Harry frowned when he finished. He re-read the part where it said he was Lord Slytherin. Then the part that said his mother was a snake. _That was unexpected. _

Harry set the parchment down carefully and met Fardrogc's eyes.

"It is not Gringott's policy to ask questions, so I will not."

Harry nodded, but didn't offer an explanation.

The goblin went on, "You have somehow come of age, emancipated. This is indicated by the fact that you are named Lord Potter, Lord Slytherin, and Lord Peverell, and not merely Heir. The Black House currently has a living Head, and has named you his Heir in his will, were you aware of this?"

Harry sighed, "The only House I expected to inherit was the Potter one. I've never even heard of the Peverell House and don't know how or why I would be named Heir of the Black one. And I was under the impression that Tom Marvolo Riddle was Lord Slytherin."

"The Slytherin Heir, he certainly is. To claim Lordship of House Slytherin, one must meet certain requirements. The Peverell House lost it's surname many years ago, but the Potter's were descendants of the youngest Peverell, you obviously fit the requirements to be the Peverell Lord."

"What are the requirements? Of both Houses."

Fardrogc hesitated, then stood and shuffled over to a shoot hanging from the ceiling. He wrote something on a scrap of parchment and sent it up the shoot with a WHOOSH! A moment later, a flat box fell out. Fardrogc picked up the box and sat back down.

"In here I have the Wills of the Slytherin, Peverell, and Black. You have, of course, already read the Potter Will."

"Er, no. I haven't."

Fardrogc froze. "What!?!"

Harry smiled faintly, "I have never received any information on my financial state at all, nor have I authorized any withdrawals. I haven't even received any bank statements."

The goblin looked furious. "I will look into this. For now, review the Wills. I'll find your file, Mr. Potter."

Harry nodded. Fardrogc popped the lid on the box and handed three files to the new Lord.

"You will only be able to read the parts relevant to you, at least until you fully claim Lordship."

Harry picked up the Slytherin Will first. Parts of it were blurry, but there was one part clear as day. It read:

_Any Person who Speaks the Tongue of Slytherin may contest for the Title of Lord of the Most Ancient and Noble House of Slytherin by Blood, by Magic, and by Heart._

_By Blood: The Lord must be a child of my Noble House, or a chosen child of my familiar, Silvera._

_By Magic: The Lord must be of certain power and ability to use the Family Magic of Slytherin as detailed in the Grimoire. _

_By Heart: The Lord must be chosen by the School of Hogwarts as having the true Heart of a Slytherin._

_The Lord of the Most Ancient and Noble House of Slytherin as part of his Lordship gains: Partnership of Hogwarts equally shared between the Lords Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, and Ravenclaw should their Heirs be worthy, full use of the Slytherin vaults, and The Family Manor- Castle Snake. _

_This is the good Will of The Lord of the Most Ancient and Noble House of Slytherin,_

_Salazar Slytherin, Lord of the Most Ancient and Noble House of Slytherin._

_Witnesses to the Will:_

_Selwin Slytherin _

_Godric Griffindor_

Harry let out a breath. He wondered which criteria Voldemort failed.

Harry picked up the Peverell Will next.

_Welcome Heir of my Family, _It read.

_The fact that you have read thus far means that you are two things. One, you are a descendant of I, Ignotus Peverell. Two, you have the ability to become a Master of Death._

_In other words, Dear One, you have the Ability to become a Necromancer and the Power to be come the Death Lord. _

_The Peverell Family Grimoire is yours, as Titled Lord of the House, it will be an aide for your journey. _

_There are three things you must find before you will be able to gain the full Lordship of the Most Ancient and Noble House of Peverell. They are:_

_My, Ignotus's Invisibility Cloak. I have Willed it to mine eldest son. Mayhap the tradition has continued._

_Cadmus's Resurrection Stone. He has set it into the Family Ring._

_Antioch's Elder Wand. He has lost it, I know not where it lies._

_The Quest is yours Dear One. _

After that the Will became blurry until the end which said:

_The last Will and Testament of Ignotus Peverell, Head of the Most Ancient and Noble House of Peverell._

_Witnesses:_

_Thaddeus Peverell_

_Wilhelmina Peverell_

_Master of Death!!_ Harry thought with alarm. _But... is this part of the Change? Or did I always have the potential? It would clear a few things up if I did..._

He picked up the Black Will, but paused.

"Fardrogc?" The goblin was reading something.

"Yes, Mr. Potter?"

"Why would the Lord Black Will something to me, especially make me his Heir? I don't even know him... do I?"

Fardrogc peered at him and said carefully, "Lord Sirius Black is your Godfather."

"Godfather!"

"Had he not gone to Azkaban, he would have been given custody of you along with a Remus Lupin and Peter Pettigrew."

"Why did he go to Azkaban?" Harry asked, dreading the answer.

The goblin nodded and said, "During the War, your parents and you went into hiding. They used a charm called the Fidelus Charm which hides a location from all who do not know the Secret told to them by the Secret Keeper." Harry began to have a very bad feeling about this. "Your Godfather was rumored, but not proven, to have been the Potter's Secret Keeper. When you died, supposedly another of your father's friends- that is, Peter Pettigrew- cornered your Godfather in a muggle street. One or the other blew up the street. They only ever found a finger of Pettigrew and your Godfather was taken to Azkaban without a trial." The goblin folded up his fingers and watched Harry struggle with himself.

"He wasn't given a trial?" He asked finally.

"No."

A determined look came over Harry's face. He picked up the Will again and read:

_The Last Will and Testament of I, Sirius Black, being of sound mind and body- shut up Prongs._

He skipped a few lines as they were blurry.

_To the Little Prongs, otherwise know as Harry James Potter. Your still a baby kiddo, but you're also the son I will never have. At your birth, I named you the Heir of Black._

_As such you'll inherit: _

_The Black Lordship. And all that Most Ancient and Noble stuff to, but don't let it go to your head, squirt._

_The Grimoire, the Black Family Manor, and 12 Grimmauld Place, London. Plus all the vault and other junk I haven't Willed else ware._

_Since you're Mum can't read this, I can say it here. Prank people. Learn to be an animagus, like the rest of us Marauders did. Live!_

_Witnesses:_

_James Potter_

_Albus Dumbledore_

Harry put the letter down with a frown. That didn't sound like the letter from a traitor to his betrayed Godson. He actually sounded quite fun. Maybe he went all Evil later?

Fardrogc handed him the Potter's Will silently and he read it.

_The Combined Wills of I, Lily Rose Potter and I, James Hadrian Potter being of sound body and mind._

_To our darling baby Harry James Potter:_

_Lily:_

_My dear, dear little one, if you are reading this, it means that you are all grown up, and I didn't get to see it. I have a vault full of personal things, and including a place for our portraits to hang_. _Yours now, dear._ _I love you child mine, and I sincerely hope you have lived happily over the years._

_James:_

_Little Prongs, I wish it weren't so, but I appear to be dead. First off, you get the Potter estate. It's quit extensive, ask a goblin for your full worth. Second, you've already been named my Heir, so now you are the Head or Lord. That means you get the Potter Family vaults as well. Third, in your mother's vault I left a trunk I, Moony, Padfoot and Wormtail (the Marauders: Pranksters Extraodinare!) used to house all our pranking things and a few other items of questionable integrity. Use it well, and not at all wisely._

_Enough of that. Harry, I love you with all my heart, son. Be brave and strong for us kiddo. _

_In the event of our untimely death, Harry is to go to:_

Hear the writing alternated from Lily's handwriting to James's.

_1. Alice and Frank Longbottom _(In Lily's handwriting)

_2. Sirius Black _(James with Lily adding) _(so long as Remus and Peter help him)_

_3. Molly and Arthur Weasley _(James)

_4. Severus Snape _(Lily, but James added) _(So long as he's not a Death Eater)_

_Under no circumstances is Harry to be housed with the my sister Petunia or her family! _(Lily wrote this as well, and it made Harry smile sadly. His mother had anticipated Dumbledore correctly, it seemed.)

_Witnesses:_

_Albus Dumbledore_

_Alice Longbottom_

The notes from his parents made him cry. The tears stopped when he read the end. _Dumbledore sent me to the Dursley's expressly against my parent's wishes. Why would he do that? _Then, _Why would Mum want me to go to SNAPE?!? _

"Dumbledore has a lot to answer for," Harry murmured, setting the Will down on the desk.

"Indeed," Fardrogc replied. He set a box full of papers on the desk.

"You will need to go through this box in the near future. It is full of the list monies, properties, and personal effects that have been willed to you. Because of the surprising amount, or maybe not so surprising due to your celebrity, I suggest you go through this one your own time. Also included is a full compendium of your assets. Along with a full assessment of withdrawals and income from the Trust Vault and an assessment of the Family Vaults that you will receive when you claim Lordship." He pushed the box towards him.

Harry stared for a moment, the smiled, "Thanks, I think. How do I claim Lordship of the Houses?"

Fardrogc smirked and picked up a thin copper bowl from a shelf behind him. He set it on the table in front of Harry. "I was waiting for you to ask," he said.

"What do I do?" The bowl had a clear liquid that looked like water, but Harry knew better than to believe it was.

"Another drop of blood will do." Harry grabbed th knife and sliced his finger again. The blood dripped into the bowl. It immediately turned black, then started to froth and boil.

Fardrogc leaned in to stare at the mixture, "Someone put a deadly enchantment on one of the Rings." Seeing Harry's frightened look he added, "but the potion will remove it, you need not worry."

After a tense minute- on Harry's part, the goblin didn't seem fazed- the potion stilled and turned gray.

"Put your hand in the bowl and draw out the rings."

Harry did so, the potion felt smooth and cool against his scales. He grabbed the four Family Rings inside. He pulled them out and looked at them.

The first was obviously the Potter Ring. It had a thick gold band with rubies in a circle on the signet. The Griffin motif in the center had an acid green snake in its mouth that it was chomping on. He slid it on his right ring finger and felt a sudden warmth flood through him. A thick book with the Potter crest (the Griffin) on the front appeared on his lap. The Potter Family Grimoire.

The second ring had a thin silver band. The signet was a coiled silver snake with emerald eyes. He placed the Slytherin Family Ring on his left pointer finger. Fire spread up his spine, then sudden chill. The Slytherin Family Grimoire, with a coiled snake on the cover, appeared on top of the Potter one.

The Black ring was much smaller, showing that he was only an Heir at the moment. It had an onyx band and a moonstone set on the top. He put it on, but felt no power surges of anything at all, besides a sense of rightness.

The Peverell Ring was a simple black band with a stone one the top. The crest was a triangle with a circle surrounding it and a line down the middle. _He set it into the Family Ring._ The Resurrection Stone- whatever that was. He put it on his left middle finger and felt a cold so deep it felt almost hot. The cold vanished leaving him shaking. The Peverell Family Grimoire appeared on the Slytherin one.

Harry stared at the Ring a moment. It felt as if it were pulsing somehow and the magic coming off it was similar to the magic coming off of Voldemort's diary. He carefully slid the Ring back off and tucked it in a pocket.

"I thought... Don't I have to complete the requirements of the Will to be the Lord of House Peverell?" He asked quietly.

"Yes, to gain access to the vaults and properties. Right now, you only have the name, and the seat on the Wizengamot."

Harry nodded. The rings glinted in the dim candles lighting the room.

"I wish to visit my family vaults and Mum's personal vault. Can this box be shrunk?"

_**TBC...**_

AN.

Sorry this took so long, I was on vacation and had work on this sporadicly. I hope the length made up for that.

I also don't do well in long technical chapters and the next few chappies are thus. Stick with me! The boring stuff will come to an end quite soon, then it will be all action and adventure and love and the rest.

Okay, up next. Harry has a chat with his parents and the founders, discovers a trunk of magnificent proportions (don't all super!Harry fics have those?).

Also, if you're worried about this being a Super! Harry, well he doesn't go out and discover he's heir of Merlin and all other famous wizards under the sun- the Slytherin thing is just a fluke that will be explained later in the Great Chapter of Explanations (coming soon to a fan fiction near you). He is strong magically and has some pretty interesting new powers, but he's still human. Mostly. Half. Er, not really...

Wow, that was a long author's note. Anyway,

Review! Review! Review! There is no growth without a good critique, after all.

AN 2:

Edited, again. I changed a few words around, gave different meanings to a few things... Check it out!

~Caerea


	5. Vaults, Vaults, Vaults

**Disclaimer:** Haven't I typed this already? See chapter's one- four.

**Warnings:** It seems that I have forgotten to put up warnings in my earlier chapters, so here they are: Slash (but not until MUCH later and not a whole bunch), violence (again, not until part two), creature Harry (Isn't that obvious?), and Super Harry (You'll see why he has to be Super, eventually, there is a reason!)

Also, in response to Haruka-Hime: no. The basilisk showing up as Harry's mother was a fluke resulting from certain things outlined in incoming chapters.

**Look into My Eyes**

**Part One: Harry Potter and the New Face**

**Chapter Five: Vaults, vaults, vaults**

_Dumbledore really messed up. _Harry thought as he sped down deep underground in a Gringott's cart. _He directly went against my parent's Will, he 'forgot' to tell me about my status as Heir, Lord now, of the Potter House, and he let my godfather go to jail without a trial. _

Harry sighed, thinking about his godfather hurt. He didn't seem like the most trustworthy of people- after all, he either abandoned his one year old, _injured_, godson to the Dursleys or he betrayed his best friends.

_Either way, he should have gotten a trial, and Dumbledore's Head of the Wizengamot._

The cart slowed and stopped a small vault door. Harry took out the tiny key he'd been given and handed it to the waiting goblin. He stood back as the gray creature stuck the key in a hole and twisted. With a grating noise, the door swung open.

Harry paused. He glanced at the goblin now standing to the side of the vault, "Do you know the incantation for a Portrait- Unfreezing spell?"

The goblin sneered slightly but said in clipped tones, "I believe it is 'vitimagus', Lord Potter."

"'Vitimagus', right," Harry murmured. "Thank you," he added, before taking a deep breath. He stepped into the vault. The door shut behind him.

His mum's vault was fairly empty. There was a trunk in the middle of the room, several stacks of books along the wall, and a jewelry box on a pedestal. But it was the portraits on the wall that immediately drew his gaze. Sitting frozen in the frames were his parents.

Harry swallowed, then dropped the illusions he had put back up before leaving the Inheritance Office. He reapplied the illusions to his regular self before he started sprouting scales and walked over to his parents. He pulled out his wand and pointed it at his mum.

"Vitimagus," he said shakily. He knew it worked when his mum began to blink and stretch. He did the same to his dad, then conjured a stool and sat on it. He watched in awe as his parents blinked blearily and yawned.

"Harry? Oh, my darling, you've gotten so big!" Lily Potter's voice settled over him like honey, it was so sweet.

"Hi, mum," he choked.

"Oh, sweety, its so good to see you. How are you, my darling boy?" Lily leaned up against the edge of the portrait and beamed at her son.

James grinned, "Back off a bit, Lils." He chucked, "How are you kiddo?"

Harry smiled, happiness flooding him. He could talk to his parents! This was great! The smiled faded a bit.

"How much do you remember?"

Lily sighed, "It was just after your first birthday that we got our portraits magicked to hold our memories. I suppose that since we haven't been updated since that we died soon after. That or, I suppose, we stayed in hiding for so long..." She trailed off seeing Harry shaking his head.

"What happened, son?" James asked.

"It was Halloween when Voldemort came to Godric's Hollow..." so Harry told his mother and father his life story. He told them of the attack, all about the Dursleys, (Lily went on a five minute rant against Dumbledore that had Harry laughing by the end) of the wizarding world, and his first year at Hogwarts, he told them of almost getting sorted into Slytherin, of Quirrel and his best friends- Ron and Hermione, then his second year at Hogwarts, of voices, parseltongue, and the Chamber. When he came to the Chamber, though, he hesitated.

Lily was being cradled by James who had slid into her portrait. James asked softly, "Go on, son, what happened next."

Harry stared into his mum's eyes and kept staring as he dispelled the illusions. Lily gasped and James tightened his hold on her, eyes flicking across the scales.

"_What..."_ Lily gasped.

"I don't exactly know," not completely true, he had a pretty good idea of what had made him this way, but he was going to wait for the Slytherin vault- and hopefully Slytherin's portrait to make sure, "all I'm completely sure about is that the basilisk bit me. Instead of dying, I ended up like this."

"So, you're what- part basilisk or something now?" James asked, tactlessly. Lily smacked him.

"Well, yeah. Pretty much."

"This... is a lot to take in. You being all snaky, Sirius betraying us! I still don't think that could possibly be. Listen kiddo, why don't you go to your other vaults and explore them a bit while we talk this over."

Harry nodded, "I'm going to the Potter vault next, is there anything special from there I should get?"

"You don't have access to the Potter vault until you're sixteen, sweety," Lily said.

"The snaky thing changed my magic around and somehow emancipated me." The two adults stared a moment before James said in a slightly choked voice:

"Um. Wow. Well, the Family Trunk Library, definitely. Uh, there is a bottomless, thief-proof money bag in there... Oh! And don't forget that amulet. If it lets you use it, you can store anything and everything inside it. Really handy, that, but I could never get it to work. Dad could, but not me. That's it, I think."

Harry smiled, "Thanks, Dad." He felt a thrill shoot up his spine at the word 'dad'.

Harry said good-bye and promised to come back before he left to take them with him, then left the vault.

He hopped back into the cart and sped towards the Potter Family vault. It wasn't far away.

"Vault 625," the goblin said.

"Thanks," Harry replied absently. He walked up to the large door. It looked like any other vault door, albeit larger.

He pressed his hand against the thick metal. Light shot out from under his hand in lines and traced the Potter crest on the door. There was a space in the middle of the crest, a small circle. Harry fitted the Potter ring into the space and there was a sound of a lock popping open.

With a groan, the heavy door creaked open. Huge piles of gold and jewels made Harry gasp as he stepped inside. He looked around for the library trunk, which he supposed would be easiest to find. He couldn't really see behind the great big pile of gold, though, so he started walking around it.

After a few minutes he spotted a bag lying on the side of the mountain. It was brown and nondescript, but his new senses told him that it was enchanted.

_The bottomless moneybag? _ Harry leaned over and picked up the bag making gold slide down and pool at his feet in the process. He felt the magic of the bag latch onto his own, keying to his magical signature. He opened the bag and theoretically shoved a few of the galleons at his feet in the bag. It made no difference to the weight, but the inside edge of the bag had a number etched into the leather that changed as he put more in. Right then it read: 56 galleons, 12 Sickles, 2 Knuts. He brought the total up to six hundred before he stopped, satisfied that he had enough to last a good long time.

Curiosity made him wonder what would happen if he tried to drop other things into the bag, so he grabbed a large ruby from the pile and tried to stuff it in. It wouldn't go in, so he gave up and figured that the bag must be tuned to hold only currency.

Harry continued walking until he was on the other side of the piles of money. He soon found himself in the back of the vault where the Heirlooms were housed.

Armor, swords, necklaces,artwork, and all sorts of other things the Potters had collected and made over the years lay around the room, haphazard in some cases and precisely in others.

One such item was an amulet sitting on a pedestal near the back left corner of the room. Harry waded over to it hopefully. The amulet was an opal the size of a plum and curved in the front, surrounded by a flat silver back. In the center, with small silver dots circling it, was a diamond- shaped sapphire of the deepest blue. Harry carefully picked it up, letting it swing by the silver chain. He touched the opal and felt it connect with his magic like the bag had.

He picked up his moneybag and touched it gently to the sapphire. There was a small rush of magic, and the bag vanished into the amulet. Harry grinned and put the necklace on. The opal settled in the hollow of his neck and the magic in the amulet flared once more. Nobody but him would be able to use the amulet, nor take it off him while he lived, unless, of course, he gave it away.

_Now only to find that library trunk thing, and I can go to the Slytherin vault. _Harry thought, walking around the room. He brushed his fingers against the armor and swords and other things, but none of them seemed to connect to him, like the amulet had done, so he supposed that he wasn't supposed to take them with him.

_I've got the greatest armor ever anyway, or I will when the Change is complete... hey, is that it?_ Against the right wall was an ornate trunk with the Potter crest on it and two golden griffins for clasps. Harry hurried over to the trunk and laid his hand on it. His magic spiked, so he knew this was right.

He touched the clasped and accidentally pricked his finger on the sharp talons the griffins had. Blood dripped on the trunk and was sucked into the wood. The griffins released their hold on the locks and the trunk opened.

Harry lifter the lid and a set of stairs leading down greeted him. He hesitated only a second before climbing into the trunk. Down, down, down he went in a spiral. Blackness was all he could see, so as he went, he pulled out his wand and _lumos_-ed it.

He could only see the tops of bookcases in the thin wand light, but it was enough to know that the Potter Trunk Library was large enough to make Hermione salivate.

At the end of the staircase Harry stepped onto the floor, immediately light flooded the library. His mouth dropped. Shelves and shelves of bookcases. Each one was tall enough to need a ladder. Harry stumbled down the first row, running his fingers against the titles in a daze.

He soon became aware of a soft whirring coming from behind him. He spun around and jerked backwards at the sight of a glowing book floating at his eye level. Hesitantly, he reached out and grabbed the flying book.

"The Catalog: the wizarding way for instant book lists and their whereabouts in your library," he read. His eyebrows shot up. He opened the book, eyebrows still up. It was blank except for instructions on the inside cover which he quickly read..

"Give me a list of books on snakes in order of relevancy," he said to the book, feeling a little silly. Somewhat to his surprise, a list of books- and a description of the snake related parts appeared on the page.

Harry closed the Catalog and let it go. It continued to float and took up its place behind him and to the left. Harry chuckled and started for the stairs. He could read later, he had other vaults to visit.

HPHPHPHPHPHP

Albus Dumbledore was upset. No, that was too mild a word. He was angry, furious, and down-right irascible.

Not only was his Golden Boy keeping secrets, not only was the Defense Against the Dark Arts position open once again , not only did he have to deal with an irate Severus Snape who wanted said Golden Boy expelled, but his lemon drops had run out.

His day only got worse. He was sitting behind his chair waiting for the owl that was to deliver his new box of candy when his fire flamed green.

He stood and ambled over to the fireplace and kneeled on the rug.

"Who is it?" He called. A head popped into being. "Ah, Arabella, and how is young Mr. Potter today?"

Arabella Fig huffed, "Well, I don't know, Albus. Apparently, he wasn't at the train station."

The gentle smile on Albus Dumbledore's face vanished and he became solemn. "Wasn't at the station?" He repeated.

"That's right. Dursley stayed for a good thirty minutes, no boy."

"Oh, dear."

HPHPHPHPHPHP

Harry beamed as he flew through the tunnels on the cart. They were going deep, deep, deep down underground to the oldest of the vaults.

The air got steadily colder, so Harry cast a general warming charm of the cart. The goblin driving nodded slightly and Harry nodded back. His chattering stopped as they began to slow.

"Vault number 13," the goblin said. Harry could hear the faint reverence in his voice. This was one of Gringott's first vaults.

The Slytherin vault was unlike his other two. It was round, for one thing. For another, it had animated metal snakes criss-crossing the door in lazy loops. Harry stepped up to the door.

_"Who goesss there?" _One of the snakes hissed.

_"I do."_ Harry hissed back. The goblin shuddered.

_"You pass by magic, child of the snake. But what about by blood?"_

"Turn around, please," Harry murmured to the goblin who instantly complied.

Harry dropped his illusions. The snakes on the door froze.

_"You, you are the ssson of the Master'sss familiar? And yet a human."_

_"Yesss."_

_"You pass by blood, Great One. But do you pass by heart?"_

In answer, he raised the signet ring and touched it to the door. The snake on the ring came alive and slithered off the ring.

_"He will uphold the Slytherin Honor," _she hissed.

At that the snakes lowered their heads and uncovered a hole in the door. The tiny snake from the ring slide over to it and wiggled inside. The sound of a lock popping told Harry he was successful. He touched the ring back to the door when the tiny snake slithered out. It went back to the ring, curled up on it, and froze.

The door swung open soundlessly. And Harry stepped inside.

He was already as wowed out as he could be at the sight of heaping piles of gold, so Harry pretty much disregarded the mountain strewn about the room. A small alcove in the corner of the vault drew him, though.

It was sectioned off by long green drapes shot with silver. Harry walked quickly over to the corner, not replacing the illusions. He drew back the drapes and smiled slightly at the sight that met him.

Four portraits, one with a royal blue backing and a regal Lady in the center, one rich red with a broad-chested man painted, and one of a smiling woman who had a bright yellow back. It was the fourth one that drew his attention, though.

The man in silver robes stared out of his portrait with a look of complete boredom. The green backing matched his eyes perfectly, as it did Harry's, curiously enough.

Harry stepped into the small room all the way, letting the curtain fall closed behind him. He pulled out his wand and pointed it at Slytherin's portrait.

"Vitimagus," he breathed. A pause, then Slytherin blinked. He shook his head and stretched, then smoothed his robes and peered out of his portrait.

"Well, now. What have we here," he murmured staring at Harry with interest.

_**TBC...**_

AN:

Cliffy!!! Next chapter we find out _exactly_ what's happened to our dear Harry. Its also the last of the somewhat boring chapter for some time. Things will happen!

More on Dumbledore next chapter too, if I can work it in.

And the appearance of a person who will not become special until much later in the story. Not telling who.

Review! Press that little blue button (or purple button depending on your computer- I swear it looks blue to me). It doesn't take long to.... REVEIW!!!!

AN 2:

Oh Merlin, it's been a while :(

The next chapter is written, edited and should be up any moment now.

Now I just have to write chapter 7...

~Caerea


	6. The Great Chapter of Explanations

**Disclaimer: **If Harry Potter were mine... I wouldn't be stressing over college tuition, now would I?

AN: I am so so sorry for not updating for, what- over a year? All I can say is that real life gets in the way sometimes... And a big and grateful thank-you to all those who reviewed. I got teary reading them. (And I know Castle Snake sounds silly! But there is a reason... *cackle*)

**Look into My Eyes**

**Part One: Harry Potter and the New Face**

**Chapter Six: The Great Chapter of Explanations**

In the dark bowels of Gringotts, beneath flickering candlelight sat a boy and a painting. The boy sat on a conjured chair, the painting stood as there was no chair in his portrait.

They stared at each other. For a moment the only sound was the quiet drip of water from the stalactites on the ceiling. Then:

"So, heir of mine, why don't you unfreeze my companions, then you can tell me how you came by those lovely scales."

"Alright." Harry stood and, one-by-one, spoke the incantation to let the portraits move.

They stirred in their paintings, yawning and stretching like Slytherin had done a moment before. Harry angled his chair so that he was facing all of them, Helga Hufflepuff and Godric Gryffindor on the left wall, and Salazar Slytherin and Rowena Ravenclaw on the right. (He was facing the corner.)

They began to talk amongst themselves with Harry sitting patiently, trying to understand the archaic English. Finally, Slytherin interrupted.

"Yes, yes. It's wonderful to see all of you and hear your annoying banter. Now, can you all reacquaint yourselves with each other later? I want to hear of my heir's interesting transformation."

"If it is a transformation," Gryffindor growled, "Were you born like that, lad?"

Harry shook his head, noticing that the Founders seemed to have no trouble talking normally when they wanted to.

"Do tell," Ravenclaw said, looking eager.

"Yes, poor dear, you must be absolutely terrified. I know I would if... well," Hufflepuff trailed off, staring at him pityingly.

"Alright, but you probably need to hear the back story as well."

"Just get on with it, lad!" Gryffindor said, impatiently. Slytherin gave a sharp nod.

So Harry told them everything. He told them differently than he'd told his parents, of course. After all, they didn't know what had happened the last few hundred years. So, he started with a very quick run down of the history of the wizarding World.

Slytherin was absolutely furious when Harry mentioned how his House was seen in the eyes of most wizards, but the others were upset as well.

"That's not even half-way true!" Hufflepuff shouted during his narrative of common thought concerning Slytherin's downfall.

His tales of Voldemort weren't received much better. Gryffindor and Slytherin got into a shouting match over Dark and Light magic. It took Harry sending out a loud –CRACK-- with his wand to get their attention.

They went quiet when he told them about the Dursleys. Both Gryffindor and Slytherin started to speak when he told them about being starved in the cupboard, but they were stopped by the girls.

It was when he told them about his sorting that the ice finally broke. Gryffindor started laughing and kept laughing for a good thirty seconds. The others chucked as well, except Harry who blushed and looked embarrassed.

When they calmed down, Slytherin said, "A snake in the Lion's Den. How original."

Harry went on, telling them of his adventures that first year. Slytherin traded glances with Ravenclaw many times during his narrative.

"It sounds like that was set up, dear," Ravenclaw said.

"I don't know," Harry sighed, "before you get into another argument, you should listen to my second year."

He started telling them of his second year, but when he got to the point where he'd found Mrs. Norris hanging upside down and petrified, Slytherin gasped.

The Founders all turned to stare at him, looking shocked. He didn't usually show that much emotion.

"No," he whispered, "please tell me it's not true."

"You've guessed then?" Harry asked grimly. Slytherin pressed a hand to his forehead, looking sick.

"You must understand, I never intended... Never."

"Listen, it gets better."

The others caught on as the story went on and started glancing at Slytherin every so often. Gryffindor in particular glared at his old friend from the point he got it, to the point where Harry told them of where the Chamber was hidden.

He let out a startled laugh and said, "You hid your secret chamber _in a girl's bathroom?!?"_

Slytherin chuckled nervously and nodded. Harry cleared his throat and continued.

Instead of stopping like he had with his parents when the basilisk was wrapped around him, he continued with, "I told her to stop, in parseltongue." He turned to Slytherin's painting.

"In your will, you said that to gain Lordship of House Slytherin, one had to be 'the chosen child' of your familiar..."

Slytherin leaned forward, "you are the new Lord, then?"

Harry nodded. "How does that work, exactly?"

"I can answer that," Rowena said calmly, "I'm surprised you did it, Salazar."

"It was necessary," he murmured.

"Mmm. As I hope you are aware, Beast magic and Familial magic both fall under the domain of Life Magic.* What Salazar did was a combination of the two. For some reason," she glanced slyly at Slytherin, "Salazar felt the need to give his familiar the ability to adopt people into the family. It is something any Lord of a House could do, if they have the knowledge."

"If all she did was adopt me into the Slytherin family, then why is she listed as my mother?"

A pause. The Founders glanced at each other, baffled.

"Perhaps you should continue with the story, child," Hufflepuff said slowly, "it may become clearer then."

"Okay. After I told her to stop..."

"In parseltongue?" Gryffindor interrupted.

"Yes, sir. In parseltongue. She bit me, before she could stop herself, I think." Harry smiled a bit at their wide eyes. "She jerked away. I could feel the poison, it burned with cold... The fang broke away from her mouth . The diary was too far away for me to reach so I threw all the magic I could at it and Riddle screamed and disappeared back into the diary."

The Founders sat up. "Repeat that," Slytherin said firmly.

"Riddle disappeared?"

"No. You said you threw all your magic at the diary?"

"Yes? Is that bad?"

"What happened then?"

"I... it hurt. Really, really bad. I felt like fire and ice were in my veins and on my skin. Then, it stopped... and I knew things. About parselmagic."

Slytherin smiled faintly and leaned back into his chair, "I know what happened," he said calmly.

"What?" The others and Harry looked at him expectantly.

"One last question, do you know what your animagus form is, boy?"

"Salazar," Rowena murmured, "you don't think..."

"Quite."

Harry fidgeted, "After we brewed Polyjuice Potion, Hermione wanted to try another one. So we brewed the Animagus Reveale..."

"So, they have a potion for that now do they?"

"Yes, sir. Mine's a basilisk. I think that might have been how Hermione figured out your familiar was a basilisk, actually. 'Cause she was researching them..."

"And you didn't think that having a basilisk as an animagus form was relevant?" Rowena asked.

Harry winced at the irritation in her voice and shook his head. "I guess not..." he mumbled.

"Lay off the boy, Row," Helga said firmly, "what's done is done."

"When you threw your magic at the diary, you were desperately trying to save Ginny Weasley's life, yes? I theorize that you actually drained your core doing so. A twelve year old, no matter how powerful, would not have the sheer magical power necessary to reverse a possession of the type I think that is without a full draining.

You already have the Heart of Hogwarts. She chose you as a protector and one of Her Children. This was one of the stipulations in my Will, if you remember..."

"Sorry to interupt, sir, but I thought it was 'Heart of a Slytherin'?"

"Didn't I say that? Moving on, you have the ability to use the Slytherin Family Spells because you are a parseltongue. And Silvera adopted you the moment she heard your voice. I suppose we shall never know why, exactly, now... But you became Lord Slytherin the second she adopted you, because you fullfilled all the requirements.

When you drained your core, you instinctively drew upon Silvera's magic. No wizard likes being without his magic and she was a ready source, as your inherited familiar.

The basilisk's magic reacted with the poison that was killing you and with the latent basilisk in your blood resulting in..."

"A part snake, part human?" Godric snickered.

"Yes. It was the only way to save him."

"Wow," Harry breathed, "that's... I mean I suspected some of that, but you really seem to know what you're talking about."

"It is not without precedent. My Great-great-great grandmother was part Sea Serpent. It is where we Slytherins received our ability of parseltongue."

"I suppose that his mother is listed as Silvera because she IS his mother... in a sense," Helga mused.

"To his new form, yes."

"That means I have two mothers. Two dead mothers and I killed them both."

HPHHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHP

The search was on. But, unfortunately, the boy was proving difficult to trace. Nobody had, apparently, seen the boy since he waved them off at the train station. In fact, the guard at the barrier hadn't even seen him leave!

Albus had people stationed at all the places young Harry would go- the Granger's house, the Burrow, the Leakey Cauldron, Diagon Alley, Godric's Hollow, even the general area of where Potter Manor was supposed to be! And nothing had come of it.

Eventually, Albus admitted defeat and- just as Harry began to speak to the four founders about his childhood- he went to the Ministry. After a quick check at the Improper Use of Magic Office to see if Harry had been using magic (he hadn't) he went to Amelia Bones' office.

"Good afternoon, Albus. To what do I owe the pleasure?" the stern woman asked, handing him a cup of tea.

"Bad news, I'm afraid, Amelia. It seems young Mr. Potter is missing."

"Harry Potter? Oh my, Albus. Kidnapped?"

Albus Dumbledore sipped at his tea and gave a light shrug, "No one has seen him since he left the Hogwart's Express. Despite our searching, we have found no trace of him."

"We, Albus?"

"I enlisted several teachers," and others- mostly old members of the Order of the Phoenix- not that Amelia needed to know that, "to look for him. No luck, I'm afraid. I even tried tracing his magical signature- yes, I know that is somewhat illegal except in certain cases (like this one, perhaps? Ah, good.), but Amelia, it didn't work!"

"Kidnapped then," Amelia sighed.

"It looks that way."

Just then, there was a frantic knocking on the door. The Head of the Auror Department waved the door open and a man stumbled in, obviously out of breath.

"Madam Bones!" he gasped, "There's... there's been a break out. Out of A_zkaban!_"

At that both adults stood. "Who, Jenkins?"

The man looked up from his panting, "Sirius... Sirius Black..."

HPHPHPHPHPHP

Harry carefully lifted the last portrait from the wall. Salazar Slytherin raised an eyebrow at him and he smiled. He liked the old Dark wizard, they got along rather well. Harry carried him over to the innocent-looking trunk sitting near a mound of gold.

Salazar (he, along with the other founders, insisted to be called his first name) had told him about certain things from his vault that Harry would want. First was the Slytherin Family trunk. Apparently, all the old families had their own trunk- the Potter Family trunk was just the library. The Slytherin trunk was a house of sorts- library included.

Besides the library, it had a kitchen, potions lab, study, bedroom, bathroom, training room, and a living room. All decorated in Slytherin green and silver- which both Harry and Godric found annoying. The portraits had convinced him that the living room was a good place for them to hang, so he was moving them. Harry figured that his living room would be quite the lively place to be- especially after he added his consummate Gryffindor dad.

Harry stepped into the trunk and sank through darkness for a second before finding himself in a bare, grey room with an animated stone snake circling him.

_"I like lilies, but not petunias,"_ he told the snake. It nodded and the Gray Room disappeared to be replaced with a cozy living room. A book case on one wall, squashy arm chairs and a couch, a nice fire that he could have set up to the Floo system if he wanted, and thick, green carpet made this room very homey.

Harry touched Salazar's portrait to the wall and muttered a sticking charm. Then he stepped back to smile at the portraits lining the wall, side-by-side. They nodded at him and he nodded back.

"Is there anything else, Salazar?" Harry asked.

"Indeed, there is, but I must commune with the other portraits of myself before it is acted upon. For now, acquainting yourself with your duties as Lord Slytherin will be enough."

Harry nodded and left the trunk. He wandered around the vault for a while- it was full to the brim with clothes, weapons, and other things, just like the Potter vault was. The only difference was that most of the valuables were Dark, instead of Light, like the Potter's things.

Harry grabbed a few treasures that caught his interest (a potions belt with matching bandolier- for storing ingredients and finished bottles- a silvery bowl with runes on it, and few neat-looking knives), but soon grew tired. Suddenly, he desperately wanted to get outside- in the sunlight.

Harry put the Slytherin House-Trunk and all his treasures in his amulet and left the vault. The goblin was still there, tapping away at something the looked suspiciously like a muggle laptop. It disappeared quickly when Harry approached.

The goblin sneered. Harry tiredly told him where to go and away they went.

Harry slipped back into his parent's vault and gathered up all the things there into his amulet- he didn't feel like introducing his parents to the founders yet, so they went into the amulet as well. James was very proud that his son got it to work for him.

He left the vault (carefully re-applying his illusion as he did), and, one wild cart-ride later, he left Gringotts. But not before he retrieved the box of papers he had to look through, that went into the amulet.

HPHPHPHPHPHP

__Harry reveled in the feeling of freedom as he stepped out of the bank, his lethargy melting away in the summer sun. There were so many things he wanted to do, it was hard to know where to start. The money bag was itching in his pocket- wanting to spend some galleons.

_Okay, what to do first. I don't have my Hogwart's letter yet so I don't need to go to Flourish and Blott's. New clothes would be nice- I've gotten tired of Dudley's hand-me-downs. What else... maybe I'll stock up on potions ingredients?_

Harry nodded thoughtfully, and left for Madame Malkin's _Robes for All Occasions._ Before he went, the twelve year old assumed a glamour that appeared similar to what he used to look like- he wanted to get the right sizes after all!

HPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHP

Albus Dumbledore resisted the urge to throw his inkwell at the wall. Sirius Black's escape had effectively terminated his search-and-rescue plans. Most of the Order members looking for the boy had been Aurors- all of which had been called to search for the escaped prisoner. Harry was nowhere to be found, and he was STILL out of lemon drops. Could the day get any worse?

He sighed and leaned back in his chair, massaging his eyes. Fawkes trilled reassuringly.

**"The hatchling will be fine, Albus- you will see."**

"I hope so, old friend."

An owl swooped in through the window.

Albus sat up and took the letter from the bird. A bad feeling crept over him as he noticed the Gringotts seal.

_Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore, Headmaster of Hogwarts._

_For failing to Announce the Will of Mr. and Mrs. James Potter after their death, you have been fined 30 galleons- payed to the Ministry of Magic, Births and Deaths Dept._

_For Opposing the Will of Mr. and Mrs. James Potter after their death, you have been fined 1,000 galleons- payed to the injured Party, Lord Harry Potter._

_For failing to Inform the Child of your Heart, Lord Harry Potter, of his Title, you will be fined 1,000 galleons- payed to the injured Party, Lord Harry Potter._

_For Tampering with Gringotts' mail, you will be fined 100,000 galleons- payed to Gringotts' bank._

_Thank you for banking at Gringotts,_

_Twigleg_

_Junior Apprentice of Junior Apprentice Halvaleg, the Disgraced._

_Gringotts Mailing Service_

While Albus was still gaping at the letter, another owl flew through the window. Albus reached blindly for the letter and hoped that it contained better news.

It was not to be.

_Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore, Headmaster of Hogwarts._

_It is Gringotts' great pleasure to alert you to the recently claimed Lordship of the Most Noble and Ancient House of Slytherin. _

_According to the Hogwarts Charter, the Lords and Ladies of the Four who originally began Hogwarts, that is Lord Gryffindor, Lord Slytherin, Lady Ravenclaw, and Lady Hufflepuff, form a council (of what ever of their descendants are left) that has equal power with the current Headmaster._

_As there is only one Lord of the original Four currently in existence, the council made up in that Lord._

_Lord Slytherin has assured us that he will meet with you, at your convenience, before the coming school year begins._

_Thank you for banking with Gringotts_

_Fardrogc_

_Goblin Elder_

_Inheritance Office_

An inkwell shattered against the wall, spilling ink everywhere.

AN:

How did you like my explanation for what happened to our dear Savior?

If it was totally incomprehensible, let me know and I'll explain better in my next author note...

Anyway, next chapter: Shopping, Sirius, and more curious things

P.S. And I know Sirius Black escaped only after he saw Pettigrew in the newspaper, which happened after Ron and his family went on vacation. In my story, an article ran dramatizing 'Harry Potter Saves the School' with Ron, Hermione, and Harry (and Ron's rat) in a picture. He saw that. Or something.

P.P.S. After all, Harry was famous before he was entered into the Tri-wizard Tournament, surely, before that, the media talked about him and his adventures- that apparently everybody at Hogwarts knows about and probably told their parents- it would be bad business _not_ to talk about the Wizarding Worlds Most Famous Celebrity!

P.P.P.S. Harry's magical signature changes, remember what the Inheritance Office Goblin said? That's why Dumbledore's tracking failed.


	7. Not' chapter 7

Hey all! Happy Halloween!

This is not an update, I just wanted to let all my patient readers know that I will be participating in NaNoWriMo this month. Thus, I probably won't be updating in November.

HOWEVER! The story I am writing for NaNo is this story- chapter seven onward- so I should start updating more quickly after November.

I will be putting up a poll on my profile for the next month, so check it out!!!

~Caerea


	8. Teaser Chapter 7

A/N: Okay, this is not Chapter seven in it's entirety, but I wanted to update at least a little.

Please note that I am currently participating in National Novel Writing Month and attempting to write 50,000 words in November. Thus, I did not have the time or energy to edit this except to get (most) of the spelling errors and huge grammatical mistakes out (I think). I did not go over this very much. Be kind.

**Look into My Eyes**

**Part One: Harry Potter and the New Face**

**Chapter Seven: The Many Scales, excuse me, SALES of Harry Potter**

Harry Potter had never felt so much like a pushover before.

All he'd wanted was a few new robes, some socks, a pair of shoes, a couple of pants, and a shirt or two. Not a lot, but enough.

Madame Malkin took one look at him, with his worn clothes, lost expression, and money bag tightly clutched in one hand (she may have taken two looks at that- only the filthy rich had money bags like those) and pounced. She ignored all the snake-boy's requests and fitted him for everything he could ever want or need in the way of clothing- and beyond.

Then she shrunk his purchases and pushed him out the front door before he had time to say one more, "But that's not...!"

HPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHP

Albus Dumbledore was not accustomed to being glared at when frequenting the bank. After all, he paid his dues, acted politely to the tellers and cart goblins, and had a sizable amount of gold in his vaults. Money and respect were all goblins cared about anyway. But now...

Now, he'd broken the law. Relatively minor laws, the first two. Wills often went unannounced and the fine was rather small. That he hadn't told Harry of his place in the world, was understandable- he was a muggle-raised twelve year old who didn't seem to care all that much about wizarding tradition.

But tampering with Gringotts mail... Harry was supposed to have gotten regular statements from the bank, both from the Potter Family accounts and the Black heir account. He had redirected the mail to himself.

It was perfectly legal for him to do so before the boy was eleven, Harry was the Child of his Heart (the wizard version of god-parent). But at age eleven, Albus was supposed to have gotten the boy's permission to keep getting his mail- to keep running his estate. He hadn't.

That was illegal.

And now he would pay for it, in the form of a 100,000 galleon fine and the collective hatred of the goblin nation.

HPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHP

Thunderclouds rolled ominously through the darkening sky as Harry stumbled wearily into his room at the Leaky Cauldron. The horrors of shopping had taken all day, but it was time well spent. He had clothes, potions ingredients, and school supplies (except the books, as his Hogwarts letter hadn't come yet.)

Harry kicked off his shoes and fell into bed.

Half an hour later, he woke with a shriek and tumbled onto the floor as an ear-splitting **BOOM** shook the whole building.

He ended up sleeping in his trunk.

HPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHP

When Harry woke the next morning it was with the disheartening feeling of having too much to do. He had hundreds of papers to go through, a godfather who was rotting in prison- maybe innocently, a rat he didn't have any idea what to do with, and a body had barely recognized.

Harry spot out of bed and zoomed into the living room where the portraits were. They were chatting quietly with each other, but fell silent when Harry entered the room.

They watched as he stumbled over to a couch (green, silver stitching) and plopped down with a groan of dismay.

"What is the matter, Harry?" Helga asked, gently.

"I have way to much to do and I don't know where to start! I could use about five more bodies- that would be perfect. Hey, it there a spell you know that does that?"

The founders glanced at each other, then turned as one to Rowena. She raised an eyebrow.

"What?"

"If there WERE a spell of the sort young Harry is speaking of, you would know it, Rowena, " Godric say dryly.

Rowena shook her head, "there are cloning spells, but the clones cannot learn, only act."

Harry sighed. He knew it was too good to be true.

"What I suggest," Salazar murmured, "Is make a list of all you need to do, and schedule each one into your day. Then, of course, you must faithfully abide that schedule until all of you tasks are complete."

"Right. Thanks Salazar, I'll do that," Harry said.

Harry looked around for parchment or a quill, but there were none. He groaned, "I need to go get some paper, I left it all in my real room. I'll be back..."

"Lad, before you go, there is something you need to know about magical trunks," Godric called.

Harry frowned and sat back down on the couch, "Okay, what?"

Godric grinned and went into lecture mode, "There are three types of magical trunks.

"The first is simply a trunk with magic placed upon it to shrink and enlarge, lock to the owners magical signature, expand a bit, have multiple compartments, or some other minor transformation. These trunks are not ones your can virtually live in, they are for storage, and storage only. If you were to close yourself into one of these trunk, you could easily suffocate and die.

"The second type of trunk is one that has all the benefits of the first, except that they are almost all multiple compartment trunks and they all have a portal to another place. Similar to the floo, these portals transport you from one place to another. They are anchored on mirrors, generally, so the bottom of the portal compartment will look like a mirror with the reflections of the place the portal goes to. These trunks are, the portals actually, are extremely difficult and delicate magic, so there are not a lot of them. Also you can only portal to one place per portal and then only if there is a matching portal where you want to go.

"The third type of trunk is a trunk that has certain special enchantments on it to provide air, heat or cold, and other enchantments meant to sustain life. They can be anything from a library (like your Potter one) to an entire house- albeit one with only one floor, and no outside (like this one). Unfortunately, they have a downfall. However long you spend in one at a time, you have to wait double that amount of time before the trunk will let you back in it. And you can't spend more than twenty four hours at a time in the trunk.

"This is the standard for a House trunk in a muggle area. You see, these trunks are made to suck up magic from an area to power themselves. It takes so much magic to construct them that they have too! In a magically saturated area, the amount of time it takes for a trunk to absorb the amount of magic it needs to function is less depending on how magically saturated the area is. Places like Hogwarts or Diagon Alley, it will probably take about half the normal time." Godric smiled widely at Harry as he finished.

"So..." Harry said, "If I leave now, I won't be able to get back in for, like, eight hours?'"

"Exactly."

"Okay, I'll make a mental list, then, here and write it down later. You guys want to help out with that?"

After much argumentation, screaming, yelling, grumbling, talking over one another, and general errant behavior, the founders plus Harry had a list (in order of importance) hammered out. (Incidentally, Salazar told Harry where he could find the necessary parchment and quill and ink he needed. It was hiding in the writing desk Harry hadn't recognized.)

Harry's Schedule for summer:

~ Wake up at 8:00

~ Do stuff until 9:00 (Eat breaky)

~ Go through legal papers. (9:00- 12:00)

~ Eat Lunch 12-12:30

~ Lay in sun and read 12:30- 2:00

~ Follow up on legal papers 2:00- 4:00 OR find out how neat heirlooms work

~ Learn something from Founders/parents 4:00- 7:00

~ Eat supper 7:00- 7:30

~ R&R 7:30- 9:00

~ Do homework 9:00- 10:00

~ Solve whatever mystery is going on at the time i.e. Scabbers the devious rat, Sirius the betrayer godparent, Dumbledore the manipulative unfortunate, my own Changes.

Harry felt some of the tension he had felt building ever since he realized what had happened leave when he finished his schedule. Now all he had to do way stay with the schedule. He didn't think he would have all that much trouble with that, though. The Dursleys, Petunia in particular, had drilled good schedule keeping habits into him since he was old enough to tell flowers from weeds in the garden.

Harry glanced at his new watch. It was an interesting watch, certainly. It had little moons and planets zooming around the edges of the face. The watch face was a man on the moon- complete with cheerful little scrunched up eyes, a reddish nose, and wide mouth. The hands had tiny crescent moons at the tips and they ticked pleasantly. Harry touched the nose. The man on the moon's grin widened and said, in a cheery voice, "It's 8 o'clock! Time for Breakfast!"

Harry knew he could program the watch to say different things at different times, and even to alert him by vibrating gently until it got his attention and he touched the nose again.

"I think," he said, stretching off the couch, "I will go eat breakfast. Then I'll go visit my library and get started on that... huge pile of stuff..."

"Of course, Harry, have fun," Helga murmured.

Harry nodded and turned towards the exit when Salazar said, "Harry! Do NOT sign ANYTHING! Open NO letters! Letters can easily carry hexes or compulsions. The legal papers themselves will have nothing nefarious imbued into their paper, except for legal traps and such. Be very, very careful. Wills can be a cutthroat business at times."

Harry frowned at the ominous words but nodded all the same, "I will be careful, Salazar, I promise."

Then he left.

HPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPH

And that is it for now.

The wordy-ness is my attempt to get my word count up. If it is too much, I will take most of that out and put it on my profile or something. Please tell me if you don't like the facts and want more adventure or whatever it is I am writing.

Please, Please vote in my poll! It is on my profile.

And if anyone can tell me where the picture on my profile was taken, I will give you wonderful readers another snippet.

~Caerea

And here is the rest of Chapter 7! Again, did not have time to edit this, not really. Mistakes will be corrected at a later date (December, here I come!)

The dog staggered blearily through the rain. It's black fur was matted and filthy; it's hide was skeletal as if it hadn't eaten for ages; and the dull look in it's eyes spoke of deep pain.

Dr. Francesca Blume took one look at the soaking wet, smelly animal and all other engagements left her mind. She would help that stray or she couldn't call herself a vet!

It really didn't take much coaxing to get the dog into the warmth of her home- luckily she'd had some meat on her from shopping earlier.

"Well, Blackie," she said briskly, "We'll get you cleaned up in no time, won't we?"

HPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHP

Tom Riddle hurt. He didn't think soul pieces were supposed to hurt, didn't think they could. But there it was. He ACHED! 'A soul-deep pain,' he thought miserably, 'it is almost fitting.'

'You think you hurt,' another voice snapped, scaring the bejeezies out of Tom, 'try having all your enchantments stripped in a goblin potion.'

'Who is this?!?' Tom growled.

'I Am Lord Voldemort!' the other voice said smugly, 'Who are you, worm?'

'Tom Riddle,' Tom replied with a snigger.

'The diary!' the other voice said, sounding surprised.

'That's right!" Tom said cheerfully, talking with the other soul piece (for that is what he had deduced it was) had somehow invigorated him beyond all reason. He was feeling positively chirpy. 'What are you?'

'Our dear grandfather's ring,' was the sulky answer.

'Ah.'

'Do you know who has us? Whoever they are, they somehow claimed myself in an Inheritance.'

'I'm not exactly sure,' Tom admitted, 'but...'

'AS FACINATING AS THIS IS,' a new voice entirely spoke up, 'WILL YOU BOTH SHUT UP? I AM TRYING TO CONCENTRATE!'

Both Tom and the Ring fell silent. The new voice was very powerful sounding and both soul pieces were wondering if the newest voice was another soul piece.

'Who do you think that was,' Tom whispered to the Ring.

'SILENCE!'

At the commanding tone in the newest voice's voice, both Tom and the Ring seemed to grow a backbone. They both shouted at once:

'Tell us who you are and I'll consider it!'

'No one commands LORD VOLDEMORT!'

The Ring scoffed, 'You'll consider it?'

Tom blushed as much as a book can blush, 'Give me a break! I've been dealing with eleven year olds all year!'

'And that is WONDERFUL excuse, yes indeed!'

'You...'

'FINE! I AM THE HORCRUX CURRENTLY RESIDING IN HARRY POTTER! AND I AM OLDER BY FAR THAN THE TWO OF YOU TOGETHER, SO I WANT NO MORE INSOLENCE FROM EITHER OF YOU!'

'I made Potter a horcrux?' Tom asked, sounding horrified.

'Who's Potter?' the Ring asked.

'IT WAS AN ACCIDENT! MERLIN WAS I REALLY THIS MUCH OF AN IDIOT WHEN I WAS YOUR AGE?'

'Hey now,' Tom muttered, 'how was I supposed to know?'

'WILL YOU REMAIN SILENT NOW? POTTER IS GOING THROUGH SEVERAL IMPORTANT PAPERS AND I NEED TO MAKE SURE HE DOESN'T BLOW HIMSELF UP, THE STUPID SOD.' The last bit was said with such a slight strain of fondness and amusement, that had the two other soul pieces not know their self so well, they might not have caught it.

'You like Potter!' Tom exclaimed in amazement, 'After all he's done!'

'IT IS HARD NOT TO DEVELOP SOME FONDNESS FOR THE BOY. I HAVE BEEN WITH HIM- WATCHED HIS EVERY THOUGHT AND FEELING- SINCE THAT HALLOWEEN. I KNOW HIM BETTER THAN ANYONE, TOM RIDDLE, AND I WOULD LIKE TO SEE YOU KEEP DISTANT FROM THAT! NOW _BE QUIET!!!'_

HPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHP

Harry Potter sat quietly in his trunk library, having gotten it from the amulet. He was steadily going through all the many, many papers he had received from Gringotts the other day. He was unaware of the conversation going on between the horcruxes, though the faint tingle of mind magic gave him a slightly uncomfortable feeling before he brushed it off as part of the trunk library's magic.

Back to the Wills- they were so frustrating! There seemed to be no standard for wills in the wizarding world. They ranged from horrible flowery pieces with pages and pages of prose about how great and wonderful the dearly departed was to stiff, formal letters full of legal jargon he had to use a legal dictionary to slough through.

Worst of all, they didn't have the cool feature of Harry only being able to read the part of the will that applied to him. He looked at several books on the subject (utilizing the Wizard Catalog) and found that only the Lord of a family had a will of that sort. It was to protect the families assets and such from being know so that a Lord could bequeath things sacred to the family.

So he had to read each one to the end, piecing together what the dead witches and wizards had left him. Actually, that was another point, some of the witches and wizards who had willed things to him were not dead yet! Like Sirius Black, the items (or in Black's case, title) were meant to go to Harry immediately, and not wait for the wizard in question's death.

Some wills carefully listed everything willed and who was owed what. Those were like a breath of fresh air- wonderful for both their brevity and rarity. The majority of the wills had everything listed like so:

'And my flowered vase that Jasmine gave me should go to Yolanda Smith, and the tiara goes to Franklin Demore, and 1,000 galleons to Gladys Mitch..."

Confusing, hard to keep reading, and long.

Ten minutes in though, Harry felt he was on a roll. The uneasy feeling he'd had was gone now, and it was much easier to concentrate. He read through each will until he found something bequeathed to him, then he wrote it down on a piece of parchment under the bequeather's name.

So far, all he had encountered among the papers were wills. And there seemed to be an abundance of them. The sheer amount of things willed to him... it was astounding! From simple money bequeaths, to broomsticks, to plant cuttings, to strange inventions built by cooky uncles, there seemed to be no limit.

Some of the things willed to him were for a much younger child. Things like animated plushies, security blankets (that were really for 'security'), and small wizard learning toys. It made Harry angry. These things had been rightfully his since he was small. And who's fault was it that he didn't have them, when he didn't have anything?

It wasn't like the Dursleys ever gave him toys.

The only thing _they_ had ever given him willingly was a cupboard and Dudley's cast-offs.

And who's fault was it that he went to the Dursleys in the first place?

Dumbledore.

Harry was really beginning to hate that man.

HPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHP

Albus Dumbledore cackled quietly to himself as he stared at his victims. The sweet pleasure they gave him, that he was anticipating, made his mouth water. He glanced up at the distributor.

"You are certain they are of the best quality?"

The man grimaced and rotting, yellow teeth flashed as he opened his mouth.

"You know that we carry only the best," he rasped, "only the purest, most perfect in form, are available for... perusal..."

Albus hummed as he inspected one of the beautiful little lovelies.

"Well..."

"Perhaps you would like to... sample... some of our… merchandise... before buying?"

"No," Albus said firmly, "I have made my choices. These three will do."

The man rubbed his fingers together and licked his lips, "All three? Well, well, well..." still chuckling, the man rung up Albus' purchases and Albus paid.

Then, the mastermind scooped up his candy bags and apparated away.

Found: Lemon Drops

Still missing: Harry Potter

HPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHP

"EXTRA, EXTRA, SIRIUS BLACK ESCAPES AZKABAN AND KIDNAPS HARRY POTTER! EXTRA, EXTRA..."

Harry grabbed a newspaper, shoving some gold at the paper stand boy. He'd been looking for something other than a Leakey Cauldron lunch (not that the Leakey wasn't very good cuisine, but he had wanted to get out of that place while he shook off the cobwebs that had formed as a result of going through those wills) when the shouted words had caught his attention.

He read the article swiftly, it had been written by Rita Skeeter- someone Harry knew was somewhat of a sensationalist and definitely a gossip. She had done several pieces on him and his friends during his first year and during the fiasco of his second. Thankfully, the Editor was wary enough of Harry's fame that he did not let her be truly nasty like she was to some other celebrities. (harry had granted the prophet several exclusive interviews in thanks).

The article in question was almost completely untrue- it 'detailed' Sirius Black's derangement and escape, and dramatized the 'kidnapping' done subsequently by the prisoner. She had brought two unrelated events- Harry being missing and the escape of Sirius Black and combined them.

Not that harry cared. He was more interested in the fact that his godfather escaped.

'I suppose this means that the Black problem gets first priority.' Harry mused. He rolled up the newspaper and went in search of food.

HPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHP

Harry entered his room, stretching lightly. He had spent an hour and a half basking in the sun- something he could now say he absolutely loved doing- and reading a book on different snake species. It was quite good, and a relief from all the boring stuff he had been reading lately.

Now it was time to work out what certain aspects of his inheritance were and what they could be used for. He grabbed his list and slipped back into his library.

Each item took research which Harry noted the interesting points of, and marked down on his paper beside the item's name. The research itself was made much simpler with the Catalog, simply name what you needed and the relevant books would be named.

Some of the things on his list had no records because they were inventions that hadn't been published yet, or had been published but after the last time the library had been stocked.

Thankfully, most of the inventions had directions on how to use them.

Some of the most interesting of the devices on the list Harry had made were objects he resolved to get from Gringotts immediately. They were:

~ a twelve hr Time Turner

~ a pensieve (which he actually had one already from the Slytherin vault, he just had not recognized it).

~ Several different types of physical weapons from a sword master along with interactive memory lessons to teach him how to use them.

~ lots and lots of books- on subjects ranging from healing to curses.

~ Several different types of Dark Detectors- a foe glass, sneak-o-scopes, a Dark Creature Detector (Harry wondered if it would go off if it got close to him and wanted to study it to see if he could come up with a spell to shield himself from it and other such detectors- mostly because the Ministry of Magic was chock full of the things by all accounts.)

The time turner would be especially helpful. One can never have too much time, and it would greatly lengthen the amount of time he had for all the things he had to get down before Hogwarts started again.

Hogwarts! He groaned silently. What to do there. He could barely hold on to the glamor as it was, and it was rapidly becoming clear that no amount of magic would be keeping his true form from showing... Plus the fact the he was Lord Slytherin and scheduled for a meeting with the loathsome Dumbledore sometime in the next month or so regarding Hogwarts and his place in it- something he needed to get hammered out as well.

It had taken a hour's study to find out what he did so far, he would take the remaining hour to go to Gringotts and get the items on his 'must get' list before he did anything else.

Harry left the library, the light dimmed as he walked up the spiral staircase.

'To Gringotts I go, again,' he thought with a sigh.


	9. Goodbye For Now

Dear Readers,

It is my unhappy duty to inform all who have read this story that I will not be continuing it at this time. Unfortunately, college and work have taken all my time up. I have some notes, an unfinished NaNoWriMo project, and a general outline of the story, but no time to actually write.

If anyone would like to adopt this story, PM me and I will work something out with you. Even though there are parts of the story that are a bit cliché, the main story arc was something I have never seen before in fanfiction, and though I was hoping to finish it myself, school is more important to me right now.

Thank you for your support, those who have reviewed, and for your readership.

~CaeruleaFairyDust


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